Smartystan

When Dr. Strong had arrived at his home, he discovered that it had been partially burglarized. He found his synth Monica damaged beyond all repair. The police at the scene sneered at him.

“Did you know that you had been alerted four times, Mr. Strong?” Officer Steph Barbary asked. He was light skinned and stood at about six feet two inches tall.

“It’s Dr. Strong, and no. I must’ve switched off my device while at the symphony.”

“Why didn’t you take your synth out on the town?” Officer Gil Gainsboro asked. He looked dark skinned and about six foot even.

“I wanted to let her recharge for the night,” he said. “If that’s any of your business.”

“Do you wish to file a digital report, sir?” Barbary queried with a certain amount of smugness.

“I absolutely would like to do that.”

The cops remained at a somewhat close proximity to the doctor. They stood tall and gaunt against the imposing figure of Dr. Strong. Their demeanor spelled a bit of misgivings about the man signing the documents.

“We’ll have a clean up crew over here in just a few moments.”

Dr. Strong nodded and entered his home. Some of his plaques that reflected his excellence in economics had been stolen from their proper places. He looked at the ground and found small shards of glass. The two officers stayed with the doctor. Another detective came to the scene. Alyna Vanderly arrived at the place of the robbery. She was about five foot eight and had brown skin and blonde hair tied into a ponytail.

“Dr. Strong, forgive us for our poor ability to prevent this. Of course, you know we only capture suspects and not predict who will fall victim.”

“Of course,” Dr. Strong replied.

“My two sheriff’s deputies were the first on the scene when your silent alarm system was tripped. They arrived at the scene and assessed the close to ten thousand dollars in damages. Your insurance company should be notifying you of any further information about the belongings that the suspects stole. ”

Like a man caught in a whirlwind, Dr. Strong processed all of the information at once as it came flying towards him. An uneasiness came to him that creeped into his bones.

“This place will be considered a crime scene. Do you have any other places to stay?”

“I have my beach house in Rehoboth.”

“You go there to regroup and recuperate from this incident,” Alyna encouraged. The deputies had already headed to their vehicle to go back to the station. Alyna watched as the doctor knelt down to hold Monica’s hand one last time.

“The synths in our lives seem much more together and hold us like humans. I’m sorry for your loss. I’m going to put two of my own in this place just in case something arises. You can grab whatever you need to hold you over. You can probably make it before the journalists and paparazzi arrive if you leave now.”

“Right. It’s okay. I’ve got everything I need down state.”

“Great. Have a good evening, doctor.”

Dr. Strong looked up and then down, again. “Thank you.” An air of honor and distinction echoed from his sonorous voice.

Alyna finally left but two heavily armed synths exited from her car before she pulled away.

Dr. Strong’s driver took him nearly two hours down from what was Wilmington to what was Rehoboth. In Smartystan, the news spread fast as reporters came to the scene and let everyone know that one of the Founders’ homes had been burglarized. In a country-state where such crimes had been reduced to nearly zero, this seemed to be a calculated attack on the doctor. The question remained whether this could have been a hit on his own life.

He arrived at the beach in the middle of the night. His beachfront property looked exactly like it had been after his house had been refurbished following a hurricane. Everything looked pristine. The doorknobs seemed to glisten. The polished wood and upholstery gleamed and looked soft and plush, respectively. The doctor called the other Founders from his temporary headquarters on the beach. The hologram of all four of them appeared with clarity in his study.

“I’m so sorry,” Belinda expressed. “This is the problem that we all tried to avoid. Now, it’s happened. Again, my condolences to you.”

“What can we do?” Go asked.

“There’s not much. An investigation is going on as we speak. I’m holed up here down at the shore.”

Dr. Frampton shook her head. “They will be brought to justice whoever those cowards were.”

“I can only imagine the amount of hours that the police are putting in right now. They may seem condescending, but they do great work when it comes down to it,” Dr. Strong announced.

“I don’t mean to downplay what happened, but where does this put Delaseer? Are we going to meet on Monday?” Dr. Frampton asked.

Dr. Strong sighed. “Of course. We won’t be meeting physically. It will be just like this,” he answered.

A hush fell over the room. There appeared to be a level of gravitas to Dr. Strong’s words. He had summoned up all of his might to venture out and say that he’s going to be alright without having to say it. His quiet confidence propelled him to a place of solace.

“I say that I stake whatever money is required to keep the synths going to protect you. We’ll have to push for better security but this all seems like a targeted hit rather than a random attack. What did they take?”

“Everything that would have meant to one person in particular.”

“So you have an idea who did this?” Belinda asked, an air of concern rising up in her voice.

“I do. I just can’t prove it at the moment.”

“But none of us should worry about Dr. Strong. Forget it. We’ll find out who did this and set our sites on ruining them,” Go said.